Flora Medica

GAULTHERIA.783. G. procumbens Linn. sp. pi. 565. Bot. Rep.t. 116.Bigel. med. hot. t. 22. Sterile sand and gravelin mountainousforests in the driest situations in North America. " Partridgeberry, Chequer berry, Box berry, Mountain tea," &c.Rhizoma horizontal, woody, often 1 of an inch in thickness.Branches ascending, but a few inches high, round and somewhat downy.Leaves scattered, near the extremities of the branches, evergreen,coriaceous, shining, oval or obovate, acute at both ends, revolute atthe edge, and furnished with a few small serratures, each terminating ina bristle. Flowers axillary, drooping, on round downy stalks. Bracts2, concave, heart-shaped. Calyx white, cleft into 5 roundish acutesegments. Corolla white, urceolate, 5-angled, contracted at the mouth ;the limb divided into 5 short, reflexed segments. Filaments white,hairy, bent in a semicircular manner to accommodate themselves to thecavity between the corolla and ovary; anthers oblong, orange-coloured,ending in 2 double horns, bursting outwardly for their whole lengthabove the filaments ; pollen white. Ovary roundish, depressed, 5-angled,resting on a reddish, 10-toothed, glandular disk ; style erect, straight ;stigma simple. Fruit a small, 5-celled, many-seeded capsule, investedwith the calyx, which becomes large, round, and fleshy, having theappearance of a bright scarlet berry. Fruit contains an aromatic, sweet,highly pungent volatile oil which is antispasmodic and diuretic. Atincture has been useful in diarrhoea. Coxe states that the infusion isuseful in asthma. It is used in North America as tea ;and brandy inwhich the fruit has been steeped is taken in small quantities in the sameway as common bitters.ARBUTUS.Calyx small 5-parted. Corolla globose or ovate, with a small,contracted, 5-cleft, reflexed border. Stamens 10, inclosed, withflattened filaments anthers ;compressed at the sides, dehiscingat the apex by 2 pores, fixed by the back beneath the apex, andthere furnished with 2 reflexed awns. Stigma obtuse. Fruitsucculent, granular, many-seeded, with a cartilaginous or paperylining to the cells.784-. A. Unedo Linn. sp. pi. 566. Eng. Bot. t. 2377. Eng.Fl. ii. 252. South of Europe, West of Ireland, the Levant.(Strawberry Tree.)A bushy tree, of very great size in Crete and the Levant ; the youngshoots often red, and rough with glandular hairs. Bark of the mainstem reddish-brown, the external layers coming off in thin flakes.Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, unequally serrated, bright green, veiny, rigid,on hairy footstalks, without stipules. Clusters panicled,bent downwards,smooth. Bracteas oblong, solitary under each partial stalk,recurved. Flowers very elegant, of a greenish, semitransparent white,with a shade of red, destitute of scent. Berry crimson, the size of acherry, very like a strawberry, covered with hard tubercles. Smith. Awine is made from the fruit in Corsica, but it is reported to be narcotic,if taken in quantity.381